Over the past four years Sigma has easily been the most prolific lens developer on Sony FE and Leica L.  We went from no full frame options from Sigma on Sony’s mirrorless platform three years ago to 30+ lenses today.  And, while I tend to look at these lenses from a Sony slant (I don’t cover Leica L-mount), I do recognize that often these iSeries lenses (a lineup of compact prime lenses that debuted in late 2019) are designed even more with Leica cameras in mind.  Compact lenses are even more desirable on compact cameras, and while Sony does have the compact a7C full frame camera, there are a variety of L-mount supporting compact cameras, including some from Sigma itself.  The newest lens to join the growing ranks of the compact iSeries lenses is the Sigma 17mm F4 DG DN.  It was announced alongside the 50mm F2, an interesting lens that I reviewed here.  If you’re interested in other focal lengths, here is the growing list of iSeries compact prime lenses all hyperlinked to my review of them.

1. Sigma 17mm F4
2. Sigma 20mm F2
3. Sigma 24mm F3.5
4. Sigma 24mm F2
5. Sigma 35mm F2
6. Sigma 45mm F2.8
7. Sigma 50mm F2
8. Sigma 65mm F2
9. Sigma 90mm F2.8

I’ve noted that Sigma’s marketing language for the iSeries is typical marketing word salad (impressive words without much grounding in reality), but the premise for the series is sound.  Sigma has recognized that there are multiple segments within the mirrorless market, and those segments have different priorities.  One group wants maximum performance in aperture and optics, and these are served by Sigma’s larger ART series (like the excellent 20mm F1.4 DN ART), but there is a secondary market who bought into the mirrorless vision of smaller and lighter while retaining the performance.  This second group is the target audience for the iSeries.  The iSeries lenses are beautiful crafted, very tactile, but are also much smaller and lighter than other premium lenses.  I’m a fan of the premise, myself, and have liked most of the iSeries lenses quite a bit. 

As time has passed, there has been an additional bifurcation of the iSeries into two lines with different priorities.  It gets a little “lost in translation”, but Sigma describes the distinction as, “Difference between the lineup that pursuits “supreme compactness” and that “combines superior image quality with everyday use”.  Some of that makes about as much sense as the “Contemporary” designation (aren’t all new lenses “contemporary”?), but essentially the way it plays out in the real world is that some of these lenses pursue compact size at the cost of a few things, most notably maximum aperture.  There are a 45mm and 90mm that have F2.8 apertures, one (24mm) that has a F3.5 aperture, and this compact 17mm has but a F4 aperture.  The other line all have maximum apertures of F2 and are a little higher end optically, though they they are a bit larger (more medium size lenses than really compact ones).

But while the maximum aperture isn’t huge here, there is something very appealing about the notion of being able to carry a very wide angle of view (103.7°) in such a very compact package.  This is a full frame lens that is barely over 50mm long and can use traditional filters.  There are going to be a lot of opportunities to use a lens like this to compliment longer focal lengths.  So should the new Sigma jump onto your wish list for an extremely portable wide angle option?  I’ll explore the strengths and weaknesses of the lens in this review.  So now you have a choice:  watch the video review, read the text review, or just enjoy the photos below.

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Thanks to Gentec (Sigma’s Canadian Distributor) for sending me a pre-release review loaner of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. *The tests and most of the photos that I share as a part of my review cycle have been done with the Sony a7IV along with the Sony Alpha 1 which will serve as my benchmark camera for the foreseeable future (my review here).

Images of the Sigma 17mm F4

Photos Taken with the Sigma 17mm f4

Purchase the Sigma 17mm F4 DN @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany 

Purchase the Sigma 50mm F2 DN @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany 

Purchase the Sony a7IV @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany 

Purchase the Sony Alpha 1 @ Camera Canada | B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 

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